Greater Jefferson County Foundation announces new officers

The Greater Jefferson County Foundation held its 44th annual meeting of the board of directors on Tuesday, June 9, 2020 at the Jefferson County Extension Office.

Re-elected for a second three-year term were Frank Redeker and Sim Buckley. New board members announced are Matt Eakins, Dale Sue Glass, Kathy Winkleman and Ray Woody. The foundation has always included board members from all geographic areas of the entire county as new board members are elected.

President Kara Waugh bid a thankful farewell to board members who had served their maximum two terms including, Angie Atwood, Nelson Anderson, Arvin Bogaards and Tammy Dunbar. Their vision and leadership will be missed.

The Election of Officer followed with Kara Waugh continuing as President, Frank Redeker as the new Vice president, Sim Buckley as the new Treasurer and Ashley Manning as the new Secretary. The existing board members include, Lori Stever, Lucas Helling, Jessica Jones, Joan Fulton, Peggy Mottet, Ron Haines and Justin Engwall. Foundation Administrator is Barbara Kistler. Ex-Officio members are Legal - John Morrissey, Public Relations - Dave Neff and Finance - Dr. William Baumann.

There has been ongoing work to make access to The Foundation Scholarship Applications a completely digital experience for the applicants and it was announced that for next year the basic ten scholarships judged by the foundation will be available in that digital format. The Committee's plan is to have all 28 of the Foundation scholarships in this format soon.

Grant discussion focused on the basic grant program and the 2020 Disaster Relief Funds Grants available this year. A total of $100,000.00 has been earmarked for the Disaster Relief Grants and applications are being received at the office. The remaining grant amount of $112,000.00 has been designated for the General Grants Program.

A special pledge to the Jefferson County Kids Organization, for the newly proposed Community Child Care Center was approved in the amount of $250,000.00 to be paid in the amount of $50,000.00 per year over a five-year period. The Foundation feels strongly that this is the type of entity that benefits a broad number of our Jefferson County residents and assists our employers by providing top quality child care for our area.

The mission of the Foundation is: 'The Greater Jefferson County Foundation receives, accepts, and distributes funds for educational, cultural, civic and charitable purposes for the benefit of the greater community of Jefferson County, Iowa.” The Foundation was established in 1975 and has had significant growth over the recent years with this type of bequest and being the counties conduit to the Iowa Non-Gaming Community distribution from the State of Iowa

For more information, visit the Foundation's website at www.greaterjeffersoncountyfoundation.org